[lbo-talk] A Show Trial (was Tariq Ali's piece at Counterpunch)

[Liza Featherstone]

I'm not sure I disagree with any of this, but I'm thinking any left
position, or perhaps I should say, any position at all, on how Saddam should
be tried risks incoherence. I'm not sad to see a murderous authoritarian
thug taken down, BUT given it was a totally illegitimate invasion, isn't his
arrest totally illegitimate? By taking any position on a trial don't we
muddy and risk contradicting our much more important objections to the Bush
doctrine of pre-emptive attack?? And the stated position of the Bush
Administration - which may quickly become the progressive position, too - is
that the Iraqis should try him themselves, but what does that mean? Which
Iraqis? Would the "Iraqis" even choose to put him on trial if they had any
say in it? Not saying they wouldn't, just that we don't really know.  In
fact, I like the mock tribunal idea precisely because it avoids taking a
specific position on Saddam or his trial.

Liza


> From: Brian Siano <siano at mail.med.upenn.edu>
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 12:15:53 -0500
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] A Show Trial (was Tariq Ali's piece at Counterpunch)
> 
> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> 
>> Brian wrote:
>> 
>>> But there's nothing to prevent the American people from demanding it,
>>> outside of our own  apathy and disinterest.
>> 
>> Activists can certainly organize a mock war tribunal that tries both
>> Saddam Hussein and US politicians (both Republican and Democratic),
>> staged simultaneously as whatever trial the US government may bring
>> Hussein to -- perhaps next June?  Activists have plenty of time to
>> prepare for a mock show trial to fight a real show trial.  The idea
>> may be also used for protests at the Democratic (July 26-29, 2004,
>> Boston, <http://maineindymedia.org/newswire/display/554/index.php>)
>> and Republican National Conventions (August 30-September 2, NYC, a
>> protest planned on Sunday, August 29, etc.
> 
> That's one project to work on, and it's certainly worthwhile. The main
> point, IMHO, is that the American public must demand that the U.S.
> follow through with bringing Saddam to justice. We should be demanding
> (through the usual methods, like public protest, barraging
> Congresscritters with letters, whatever) that Saddam's trial be
> conducted by the Iraqi government without U.S. interference, that the
> U.S. government cooperate fully with this crucial step of the
> reconstruction of Iraq, and that if Iraq requires prosecution of
> American citizens (like, gosh, I dunno, Donald Rumsfeld or Henry
> Kissinger), the U.S. should cooperate on this point as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk